Method for transporting asphalt



l. .9,1941.v 4 T. $.COOKE 2,265,801

METHOD FOR TRANSPORTING ASPHALT Fil'ed May 27, 1938 Patented Dec, 9, 1941 UNITED) STATES I PATENT oFFIcE 2,265,801 METHOD FOR TRANSlOBTlNG ASPHALT Thomas S. Cooke, New York, N. Y., assignor to Standard Oil Develo pment Company,.a corpoe ration of Delaware Application May 27, 1938, Serial No. 216,364

(01'. 83-91) l v Asphalt prepared from petroleum residues or 2Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in the transportation of normally solid substances, such as artificial or natural asphalt, bitumens, greases, natural and synthetic fats, and the like.

In transporting asphalt, the general practice is to deposit the asphalt in containers and move the said containers containing the asphalt. The disadvantage of transporting asphalt in this manner is that the asphalt solidifies and when the removal of the asphalt from the container "is desired, it is necessary to either apply heat to liquefy 'the asphalt, or break the container. An-

other method pf transporting asphalt is by passother suitable source is passed while still hot and liquid from the stills or other supply of asphalt and discharged into pipel. Through pipe 4 the asphalt is delivered to the suction side of pump 5 which may be a rotary type of pump, but any suitable pump may be ,used. Pump 5 delivers the asphalt through pipe 6 at sufflcient pressure to inject the asphalt through nozzles I into the stream of water in pipe 3. The asphalt so injected is cooled and granulated by the stream of wa- I ter, which stream of water subsequently acts as An object of this invention is to provide a method whereby the disadvantages generally encountered'in moving the asphalts are avoided. A fur-' ther object of this invention is to cool the asphalt in such a form so that it is easy to-liandle both for shipp g and storage.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will be understood from the following description read in connection with the accompany- .ing drawing in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing a preferred form of apparatus for transporting the asphalt,

Fig, 2 represents an end view of the injector device associated with a pipe with parts broken away to facilitate the showing, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view in detail jector device employed. For the purpose of illustration, the handling of asphalt be described, but the invention is vnot to be limited to this use, ,as other material may be transported and other liquid used as the 7 carriers.

Water obtained from a suitablesource is passed through pipe I by means of pump 2 into pipe 3. The force and volume of the water passing into pipe 3'is regulated by means of pump 2. The temperature of the water that is used may be regue lated by the source of supply as it is not generally necessary for the purpose of this invention to use water that had been refrigerated, as the normally solid material is solid atthe temperaa conveying vehicle to discharge the asphalt at any desired point. a

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, pipe 6 is shown as a manifold around pipe 3 with four restricted injection'nozzles I, 90' apart around pipe 8, for iniectlng the melted asphalt into the stream of water in pipe 3. One or any number of such nozzles may be provided, depending upon operating conditions, and such ,nozzles may be restricted in cross-section to increase the velocity of the hot asphalt at the point it enters the stream of water. The size of the granulated particles subsequently formed will be reaulated, by

into'the stream of water in relation to the'velocity of the stream of water itself or the manner in which the asphalt ,is dispersed intlie water.

The asphalt m} be collected at the end of pipe I in a pile an being granular in form may be 'readily to drain off. r

It will be obyious that the time of contact of ed aftenthe water has beenallowed the asphalt while in theliquid state and the water maybe changed by varying the amount and the velocity of the water passing through ture of the water or at a temperature slightly higher than that at which the water is ordinarily obtained. It is necessary to have pump 2 of sumcient capacity and hydrostatic head to deliver the required amount of water through pipe 3 to any desired location which may be several thousand feet or several miles away. Salt water is also suitable for this purpose.

pipe 3 and also varying the area of nozzles whereby the volume of asphalt, passing into the running stream of water is controlled. If it is desired to transport a substance having a fairly low melting point, it may be necessary to refrig-- erate the liquid carrier, for example, when trans-' porting a grease or fattyoil.

ilarious changes and alternative arrangements may be made within the scope of the appended claims in which it is my intention to claim all the prior art permits;

I claim:

novelty inherent in the invention as broadly as 1. A method of preparing asphalts and the like for transporting. and transporting them, which comprises forcing relatively perature below the melting point of asphalt through a relatively large pipe, injecting a plucool water at a tem rality of streams of a heated and melted asphalt through restricted nozzles at spaced points around said pipe and into the stream of relatively cool water being forced through said pipe whereby the liquid asphalt and water are mixed in a con-, 6

fined space to solidify and granulate the asphalt and a mixture of asphalt granules and water is formed, the restricted nozzles serving to increase the velocity of the hot asphalt as it enters the streamof water, transporting the mixture in said 10 pipe to a desired point, discharging the mixture from said pipe and separating the asphalt granules from the water. 

